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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22423330">Halves of a Whole</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisuru/pseuds/Kisuru'>Kisuru</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, Promises</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:40:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22423330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisuru/pseuds/Kisuru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Naruto and Sasuke meet in the Hokage's office, Sasuke feels regret for the loss of Naruto's arm. But above all, he will put aside that past and be the hand that supports him into the future.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Chocolate Box - Round 5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Halves of a Whole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartbeatstumbles/gifts">heartbeatstumbles</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Hokage’s office was still a challenge for Sasuke to handle. Even while he looked side to side at the window and desk, he was in awe of that fact that, after all he and Naruto had been through when they were younger, Naruto was Hokage in the flesh and blood.<br/>
<br/>
He had not been home recently to see the extent of that growth, but he didn’t have to see every step. He knew he would be fine.<br/>
<br/>
One addition felt wrong to him, though. The bandage peeked out of Naruto’s shirt sleeve.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s been busy lately,” Naruto sighed. He flopped back in his chair. Sighing heavily. “Shikamaru has me working like a dog.”<br/>
<br/>
A smirk formed on Sasuke’s lips. “Are you saying you can’t handle the heat, loser?” He had entrusted this position to him despite everything – paperwork short of a mile high should be the least of a shinobi’s complaints.<br/>
<br/>
Naruto bristled and shot up in his chair. His hand landed on the pile of papers before him, ready to deny him. He couldn’t muster up the courage to be angry; Sasuke was back and hearing his rude commentary was a balm to his sore ears. “I can! Absolutely!” He puffed out his chest. “Don’t underestimate me. I can do all of this—!” Feeling the thick folder of release forms, he laughed. “Tomorrow.”<br/>
<br/>
The sound of his voice was reassuring, but Sasuke’s attention remained on that offending bandage. Naruto’s sleeve rode up his arm with the jerk of his muscle, and the snake of the bandage wound past the bend of wrist.<br/>
<br/>
A coil of regret wound up in Sasuke’s heart.<br/>
<br/>
“And you have so many things to catch up on,” Naruto reminded him. Blue eyes glittered with mirth, excited to spill every detail that Sasuke did not know. Rekindle the deep bond that was severed only with his absence. The blank stare in his expression worried him, though, and he hoped that didn’t mean he was disappointed. “Just the other day, I—“<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke reached out. While he would have plenty of time for talk later, he didn’t have much interest in listening to him rattle off his accomplishments. His heart, his thoughts, were on the past. His hand hovered above Naruto’s hand, hesitating, before he settled the hand on the bandage. It was warm with use on a regular basis, though harder than regular skin. He relaxed with that comfort.<br/>
<br/>
Naruto’s heart beat a little bit faster, curiosity setting in. Sasuke was suddenly <em>closer</em>.<br/>
<br/>
“The prosthetic gives you full feeling?” Sasuke asked, genuinely wondering the answer.<br/>
<br/>
To think, their battle had been the reason Naruto had lost such a large part of himself. He had taken so much, yet he did his best. Yet Sasuke touching his new hand had the opposite effect. He was whole once again.<br/>
<br/>
The palm of his hand was much rougher and scratched than he recalled from all the times Sasuke had punched him. With the hardships of time, his right arm had picked up the brunt of slack for work, chakra points well honed.<br/>
<br/>
“Moves perfectly,” Naruto added, grinning sunnily, flexing his wrist for show. “The cells are magic. You can move freely, feel texture or temperature. It’s just really, really cool!”<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke offered him a snort of disgust, but his resolve to touch him boldened. His fingers traced the expanse of bandage down to the letter; he followed the creases in the band, the hard edges and soft edges which kept it in place. The sleeve was pushed up farther and farther the more and more entranced he became. He had always wanted to prove that he could repay for that battle. Just feel the body he couldn’t for months and months.<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke sucked in a deep breath. He fought the prickle of a tear that threatened to fall.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m sorry.” The bangs that normally covered the Rinnegan swung and hid Sasuke’s other eye. It hurt. His heart squeezed despite what he told himself. He had destroyed it (he told himself it was okay, it was okay, okay only because he was healthy) and he wished he could give him back that piece of himself.<br/>
<br/>
“S… Sorry?” Naruto didn’t realize how dizzy he was until that moment, shaking his head back to reality. He had been immersed in the intent, yet careful, glare Sasuke saddled him with. He doubted he even realized the brunt of anger that flashed in his expression before it fell away. “What are you talking about?” He bumped Sasuke’s fist with his own, but he hesitated in returning it. “Don’t give me that now. You know it’s in the past, dattebayo!”<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke’s frowned. He wished it could all be in the past. He had journeyed to make it a part of the past. He could place the old ways of his behavior behind him, but he lived on a sea. A sea that bobbed with regret, anxiety, and a treasure trove of what could have beens.<br/>
<br/>
Naruto had more uplifting ideas.<br/>
<br/>
“You sure you don’t want the arm?” Sasuke had rejected the offer on other occasions, but the sadness that permeated his expression made Naruto want to do anything he could again. “Let’s ask Granny Tsunade, and—“<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke’s hand slid upwards towards his elbow. He cupped him at the bend, dug his fingers into the bandage, and yanked him forward. Naruto came willingly and slammed into the desk. Papers flew off the top half of the pile under him and sloppily scattered on the floor at his feet. Tightly, he clutched onto him.<br/>
<br/>
One day, he would put this behind him, but the feeling was new. So, so raw once he truly took the sight of his arm gone into a new one, and he processed the implications of that.<br/>
<br/>
Something that was… finally hope.<br/>
<br/>
“I would rather be the arm that supports you,” Sasuke told him instead. He had no intention to repeat his assertions about staying true to his pledge and loyalty to Konoha, the village that he had sworn to protect. That was the concrete pillar of <em>his</em> flesh and blood. The life they needed to share. “I have the arm you don’t have anymore, don’t you agree? It’s only natural we lend each other a hand.”<br/>
<br/>
Naruto’s twitched excitedly. “Your right arm will support my left. That it?” They were each other’s half and whole through and through – and the meaning, the extent to which they would make up for each other’s weaknesses, was broader than their arms. He laughed merrily. “In that case, I believe in you.”<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke weighed his words. He didn’t have to imagine the sight as he always did that their arms were close together. He could see their arms there and then, crossed as one and yet with their own strength, before him as truth.<br/>
<br/>
Sasuke sealed the promise between them, then, lips pressing to his, real arm pressing his fake and pinning it protectively. Naruto scrambled to return the favor. He couldn’t describe his relief. To him, the bond of that pledge could never be cut the same as the physical, because it was the ultimate one.</p>
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